When training my dogs, I very, very rarely tell them ‘No’. This especially goes for training dog sports. I focus on showing and telling them what they are doing right. If they get it wrong, then I simply try to communicate what I want them to do rather than focusing on what I don’t want […]
At least 2 or more rooms have Gold’s Gym matting over your beautiful hardwood floors. You are going to put matting in the rest of the house soon so the dogs won’t slip. Your dogs have their own general practitioner vet, sports dog/orthopedic vet, physical therapist, chiropractor, dentist, and surgeon. Each of these has been carefully […]
Recently I began feeding my dogs raw. It’s been an adventure – that’s for sure! I bought a small chest freezer and find myself excited about finding beef liver at the supermarket. I even forget to buy myself something for dinner sometimes because it’s not as much fun as looking for deals on different items […]
I sometimes ask my students if they talk to their dogs. Most often, the answer is ‘Yes’. Then I ask them if their dog talks back to them. And I usually get silence or a ‘No’. The reality is that most of our dogs are trying to communicate with us all the time! We all […]
I admit don’t know much about how the public school system works currently, but I can tell you that when I was in school, it was BAD to be wrong about something. You were a failure. You were stupid. When it happened in front of the rest of the class, you were ashamed. The end […]
Many of us have always heard that practice makes perfect. This is true with dog training as well! Whether you are preparing for competition or teaching your dog not to jump on guests, you must work with your dog on the skills that you want him to learn if you want to train them successfully. […]
At a recent trial, I saw many people I hadn’t seen in awhile. Bully has had some shoulder issues and between that and me starting a business, we haven’t been trialing very much for the past couple of years. It was great to see people and their dogs again and catch up. I noticed a trend though that […]
If you haven’t read Brene Brown’s book “Daring Greatly”, I highly recommend it. It talks about the power of letting our true selves shine in the face of emotions that might be uncomfortable for us and the personal rewards that come from doing that. The name of the book comes from the famous quote by […]
This past weekend, I watched a 5 jump sequence in a Masters JWW course designed by Linda S. Robertson throw team after team. This sequence was a long straight-away that lead into the end of a C shaped tunnel. The catch was that you had to do a 180 deg turn and wrap a jump before […]
Some people have dogs that bark while playing agility. I’m not talking about the dogs that are crated on the side of the ring (that’s a different topic!), but the ones that bark while they are running a course in the ring. There are many reasons why the dog may be barking including: Frustration since […]